Minneapolis Uptown businesses organize to block medical respite homeless shelter

Uptown businesses are pushing back against a medical respite shelter proposed for 918 W. Lake St., saying they want the area’s homeless people to receive help, but not in view of their shops.

Lakeshore Care Inc. is asking the city for a conditional use permit to run the shelter in an area zoned as a “community mixed-used district.” Applicant Tim McLaughlin of Grootwassink Real Estate did not respond to an interview request, but his application states the center aims to provide clients with a smooth recovery process in a facility supervised 24/7 by trained staff and an advanced medical practitioner.

Still, nearby business owners are concerned that “perceptions” of crime brought by a homeless shelter in their midst would repel customers.

“My staff right now do not feel very safe, and especially in the winter time when it gets dark out early, tripping over needles,” Stephanie Swanson, a State Farm agent at Lake and Hennepin told the Planning Commission on Monday. “To think that it would get more congested with people who are unhoused in that area is going to make that perceived safety more difficult for everyone. And I say perceived because I really don’t believe that these people have anything that they’re necessarily going to do to harm us.”

Esthetician Matisse Johnson, who owns the spa #FACE directly across the street from the proposed shelter, said she has to keep her doors locked because homeless people frequently try to enter.

“I’m scared at the thought of my clients sitting in these beautiful, $500 swinging chairs that they’re too scared to sit in sometimes,” Johnson said. “I just don’t want them to have to sit and view what may or may not be coming out of this building.”

The Planning Commission also received dozens of emails opposing the project from business owners and neighbors, the vast majority copies of a letter from the group Vibrant Lyndale, which primarily advocates for the preservation of on-street parking along Lyndale.

City staff are recommending approval of Lakeshore Care’s conditional use permit. The Planning Commission public hearing was continued to August 12.

The Uptown commercial district struggled with sustained protests after law enforcement killed Winston Smith in one of its parking ramps in 2021. Drag racing, street reconstruction and homeless encampments near the Walker Library have posed myriad challenges for businesses. Signers of the Vibrant Lyndale letter include those who have asked for more resources for people experiencing addiction and homelessness in the encampments.

Medical respite facilities for homeless people in Minneapolis include Catholic Charities’ Exodus and Endeavors residences, Our Savior’s Community Services and the Salvation Army’s Harbor Light Center.